L15- Equitable Future Cities

Guest lecture→ Maria Val Martin

What does equitable city mean?

• Equitable cities prioritise fairness and inclusion, ensuring that urban improvements benefit all residents, not just a privileged few.

• They address not only social and economic disparities but also environmental ones, providing clean air, accessible transport, and green spaces for everyone.

• Building an equitable city requires careful planning and policies that consider the needs of all residents, especially marginalized and vulnerable communities

  → decisions made 60/70 years ago made cities not equitable for everyone today

Cities around the world:

• differences in green spaces, planning, size of houses, roads, segregation by motorways- less access to services and healthcare

• inequalities have different origins e.g.

  • Detroit- economy, loss of population made abandoned houses, less government investment in these areas then

  • Cape Town- racial disparities, white areas are closer to the sea, low-income are closer to the in-land parts

  • Buenos Aires- gentrification- lower income people not able to afford to live in the centre so moving to outskirts of the city

• inequalities in environmental factors:

  • air pollution→ lower income people are exposed to higher levels of air pollution

  • temperature (cold/hot) and urban heat→ more concrete and less green spaces

  • access to green space

  • flooding or drought→ better parts of the city have better drainage and infrastructure

  • light/noise pollution→ sleep deprivation and mental health and wellbeing

• inequalities in social factors:

  • race and ethnicity

  • poverty and income

  • benefits eligibility→ funding by governments is unequal- low income parts have less access to education, healthcare, other benefits

  • education and employment→ less schools, less jobs

Air Pollution-

• everything that is toxic that gets into the air and affects human health, vegetation and buildings

• Primary pollutants→ directly from sources e.g. volcanoes, wildfires, meat production, transport, industries, factories

• Secondary pollutants→ are being transported in the atmosphere by the reaction of primary pollutants, are gases and also particles

  • e.g. surface ozone- reaction of volatile organic compounds and nitrogen dioxide in the presence of light and sun, high in the summertime

  • PM10→ all particles less than 10 micrometres

  • PM2.5→ all particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, cannot see with naked eye, breathe into lungs and into bloodstream

    

• causes 8.1million premature deaths a year, 2nd cause of death in the world

• affects human health:

  • short-term e.g. asthma, eyes itching

  • long-term e.g. causing cancer, pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease

    

• is inside homes too e.g. mould, cooking, cleaning

• is invisible and has lots of economic factors→ is hard to visualise and fight against

• In the UK→ causes 40,000 premature deaths estimated by Public Health England

• Sheffield City Council launched a clean air program in 2015→ nitrogen dioxide and PM10 causing 500 premature deaths a year

  

Laws regulating air pollution-

• Great Smog of London→

  • 1953, was very cold, used coal to heat their houses

  • had increased soot and sulfur dioxide, air pollution got trapped at the lower levels of the atmosphere

  • 4000 people died in those three days but caused 12,000 deaths in the long-term due to respiratory infections

    

  → first clean air act in 1956- focused on smoke control, raised chimney heights

• air quality standards by countries and WHO→ level above this is when human health is impacted by air pollution

  • if a country has more pollution due to more industry and vehicles, they will want less restrictions

  • difference between Scotland and England→ Scotland is cleaner

    

Air pollution x cities:

• study:

  • classified cities based on economic growth→ 4 types of cities

  • looked at satellite images of nitrogen dioxide from European Space Agency

  • looked at PM 2.5 levels from human activities from a NASA satellite

    • mostly in emerging cities and struggling cities e.g. India and Africa

    • don’t have the capacity for cleaner technologies and is linked to economic growth- industries don’t control for air pollution

      

• inequalities within cities:

  

• US→ redlining:

  • 1930→ federal Home Owner's’ Loan Corporation classified neighbourhoods based on who lived there, red- immigrants or people of colour, risk to offer a loan to people from these areas

    → has stopped today but still can see effects of this today

  • e.g. San Francisco- levels of nitrogen dioxide correlates with where people of colour live today, less loans given, less development, less government investment, only could afford to live in redlining neighbourhoods, have higher pollution levels and are 5 degrees hotter in the summer

  • has affected other cities like Denver, Detroit, Chicago…

    

• Europe:

  • more particles in Eastern European→ more industry and agriculture

  • highest levels of NO2 are in the main cities e.g. London, Barcelona, Paris, Milan→ from transport

  • southern Europe is warmer than Northern Europe→ higher levels of surface ozone

    

• between cities in different countries:

  • people with less education is a proxy of lower income→ more exposure to PM10/2.5 and noisier environments

    

• Sheffield:

  • was one of the most polluted cities in Europe→ steel industry

  • study looked at how PM10 has been changing in Sheffield since the 1850’s:

    • poor air quality when steel industries was high

    • industry closed→ cleaner air

    • but are still above the WHO limits of clean air

    

  • last 10 years→

    • both NO2 and PM2.5 have been decreasing

    • 50% decreases in NO2 since 2014→ cleaner vehicles

    • PM2.5 decreases less as there are more sources of this e.g. wood burning in houses in the winter are due to 50% of particle pollution in Sheffield

    

  • pollution is not distributed equally→

    • northern part of Sheffield has more non-white populations→ also has higher levels of NO2, deprivation and fuel poverty

    • red areas→ in the 10th percentile of the country→ houses are not heating properly in the winter time

    

    • can see this inequality when looking at areas of Sheffield:

      

Solutions to a more clean city:

• active mobility→ reduce noise and air pollution e.g. increase cycle lanes, more accessible public transport

• urban planning→ more parks, plant more trees

• housing→ good ventilation and insulation

• participation→ empowering people

  

Examples of initiatives:

Barcelona Superblocks-

• city planning made perpendicular and parallel roads and streets, stopped traffic in these areas (except for residents and emergency vehicles) and gave area to public whilst the traffic goes around, have access to bikes and green spaces

• has reduced air and noise pollution within these areas

  

  → has been very successful

Sheffield:

School Streets-

• close road in front of school gates, cleaner playgrounds and roads for children

  

Grey to Green-

• reconnect Castlegate (low income area) to the city centre

• major road converted into a green space→ cycle and pedestrian area

• improved resilience→ reduces flooding risk

  

  → has been very successful

15-Minutes Cities:

• have everything within 15 minutes e.g. healthcare, work, services

• removing parking spaces, making green spaces and cycles lanes, investment in local neighbourhoods

• e.g. Paris- plan to make it 100% cyclable

• have envisioned how areas in Sheffield will look when doing this:

  • plan of double red lines in Eclessall Road but there was opposition by businesses so went back on this

    • studies show when an area is pedestrianised, businesses do better as people spend more time there and more money

      

Low Emission Zones-

• discourage the use of the most polluting vehicles

• ongoing debates on if this effective

The Line-

• sustainable city being built in Saudi Arabia

• will be really long and hold 9 million people in 34 km2, will have a high speed train back and forth, will run on renewables, low carbon footprints

• everyone will be within 5 minutes of all services

• 20,000 traditional people have already been displaced

  

Summary-

• Equitable cities prioritize social justice and inclusivity, ensuring that policies address air pollution and climate change while benefiting all residents.

• Community engagement is essential—empowering people to shape urban environments and advocate for fair and sustainable policies.

• Urban planning and environmental policies made today will shape future cities, highlighting the need for long-term, equitable solutions to air pollution and climate challenges.